Hyperlapse - the easy way. This video was recorded driving on a bike trough Zurich-Oerlikon (post code 8050) filming with the app «Hyperlapse» on my iPhone. The resulting movies are 720 only, and sometimes with visible artifacts. You cannot compare the quality of this iPhone videos with the real thing. But still: in my hyper lapsing experience, sometimes, even after hours of post production work the result is not convincing.

...is in Portugal. «The West End of Europe» is where you are a spectator in the theater of nature, watching how the sea is forging a coast of both remarkable wilderness and beauty. Filmed in April 2014 around Nazaré, Carvoeiro and Sagres. Shot mainly in 4K (UHD) with a Panasonic GH4 and a bunch of modern and vintage lenses. Then edited in a 1080p timeline in Final Cut Pro X. Some grading with Filmconvert. Music with a licence of Premiumbeat.com.

The new Panasonic Lumix has not only the much discussed and praised 4K video quality. It’s also a major step up in the capabilities in 1080p (FullHD). One of the feature I’ve tested with a pre production camera (Firmware v0.5) on a trip in Portugal was the 96 frames per second slow motion mode. The clip of some surfers on the western coast beach Praia do Amado were all shot in the 96fps mode. Shutter speed was set between 1/250s and 1/400s. The lens used was a vintage manual focus Canon FD 300mm f4 L Lens. BTW: I really like the feel and quality of old FD lenses adapted to Micro43 cameras. They are ultra smooth to focus, often more compact than their Nikon Ai counterparts and focus in the direction I’m used to from other cameras.

Peaking - a godsendOne of the killer features of the GH4 compared to the GH3 (still a good camera tough) is the new electronic view finder. It’s more detailed, has zebra and - finally - peaking. This is very important when using a lot of vintage lenses or the great Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 with a Metabones Speed Booster adapter. From the menu you can select three colors. For the shots on the beach I’ve switched from the default blue to yellow to better check the focus.

Enough room for some gradingI’ve used the CineD picture profile. The original files have a rather flat look (good for grading). Some contrast and vignettes were added in Final Cut Pro X. There’s some room for grading however with 100Mbps for 96fps it’s more limited than in the other modes (100Mbps for 4K, 1080p @25fps or even 200Mbps for 1080p).

First conclusion: excellentI’ve had the pre prod camera for 10 days and was shooting a lot of video (mainly 4K) and a lot of stills with it. My first conclusion: it’s an excellent step up from the still very capable GH3, especially if you are a video shooter. One thing I really like is that unlike my various Canon cameras which change the layout from generation to generation all the buttons are still on the exact same place if you upgrade from a GH3. And for my hands at least the GH3/GH4 form factor and controls layout is the best I’ve ever had from a camera, on par with Canon’s 7D. It’s a pleasure to shoot with the GH4. The additional battery grip gives some additional hold while the system still remains compact and lightweight compared to a APS-C or Full Frame DSLR.

After weeks of shooting, rendering and editing «Piazze d’Italia» is finally going public. The video featuring 45 piazzas (squares) all over Italy was shot in spring and summer 2013 mainly by me and Edoardo Cicchetti. With additional shots of 6 other time lapse photographers I’ve edited this vast collection of material to the beautiful soundtrack of Paolo Fresu, the well known Italian trumpet player and composer. The video was produced by Mikaela Bandini of Can’t Forget It(aly) for the Italian State Tourism Board ENIT. This long version of the video as well as two short versions are part of the 2014 «Made in Italy» campaign aimed at european travelers.

Finally here: a selection of some time-lapse shots used for the short time-lapse movies during the live broadcast in June. You find some more information in the description of the video. Please make sure you watch the video in HD quality (it’s available as 1080p) and fullscreen.

It’s called the «Land of thousand ponds» ( «Pays des mille étangs» ), but I’d call it «Crosslands». The region in the eastern french Departments of Saône and Vosges was one of the poorest in the country for a long time. The people were very religious at that time, I was told during my stay last summer when I was shooting one of the Crosses ( «Croix calvaires» ) in the beautiful landscape of hills, forests and gentle valleys. Read More...

A time-lapse tilt-shift video shot and edited by me for the Little Italy project. Additonal shots by Itaria Colussi and Andrea Lacota (www.emotionttl.com). Music: «Everyday is a Gift», with a license of premiumbeat.com

Created a new page with direct access to a selection of my time-lapse movies, including the top-rated «Venice in a Day» video. To date the Venice time-lapse has more than 700’000 plays on Vimeo only. I discovered a hijacked version on Youtube which has gathered another 130’000 views.Please check out some of my other movies as well.

During two very hot but beautiful weeks I was recently on a time-lapse shooting trip in Jordan. The trip took me from the busy Amman to the magnificent site of Petra, the majestic desert of Wadi Rum and the two very different sea resorts of Jordan, Aqaba at the Red Sea and the Dead Sea. I was shooting almost a terabyte of pictures and I’m currently editing four videos for the Jordan Tourism Board. Please stay tuned… more to come soon.

I will start in English first today. There has been an incredible response to my latest video on Vimeo «Venice in a Day». To date the time lapse movie has gathered more than 360’000 plays and 4000 likes on Vimeo.com. If you want to know more about me, my technique you can read the article on Smokingdesigners.com or the interview by Filippo on his blog «Today I conversed with»

Done and online. Venice in a Day, in 3 Minutes. From dawn in the morning at the Rialto bridge to the sunset above the Piazza San Marco, and some travels up and down the Gran Canale. Please watch this time-lapse video in HD.

A little comparison I did recently of the three cameras. This test is mainly focused on sharpness and moire. Both Canons had a Cinestyle profile loaded. This makes the images soft. But that's what you have to do in order to have as little moire as possible with Canon DSLR's (even with the new 5D Mark III as seen in other videos). I did only some contrast correction in post. The Pana GH2 was on 24P Cinema mode (Daylight pref), nothing hacked.

After that test I bought myself a Panasonic GH2. For wide shots the GH2 is just looking much sharper and this almost without moire.

You can download a mp4 file in 1080p on Vimeo (compressed at 12 MB/s) to watch it on a big screen.

A short film featuring the Bay of Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, France (La baie du Mont Saint-Michel), the spectacular little town on the rock itself and the nearby cities of Granville and Saint-Malô.

The video was shot in Summer 2010 with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II. All time lapse sequences were shot with a Canon G10. Editing and grading in Motion and Final Cut Pro X.

«Au bout du Lac», it’s a little and winterly Hommage to the city and the beautiful lake on the western end of Switzerland. Filmed back in 2009 with a Canon 5D Mark II. At last edited and graded in Final Cut Pro X.